Frances Martel reports: The jihadist terror group Islamic State (IS), formerly known as ISIS, has become a particularly dangerous threat to the West through its guerrilla-style war tactics and decentralized organization, making targeting leaders more difficult for Western militaries.

“The ban on beheading videos appears to be a response to an increase in Islamic State beheading footage circulating on the Internet since the execution of James Wright Foley.”

ISIS leaders are now cracking down on social media, however, according to reports that leaders are calling for a ban on uploading beheading footage to the Internet.

“A complete switch from videos of children singing the Islamic State’s official song to videos of violent beheadings threatens to scare away Westerners who may have a soft spot for the concept of jihad; thus, the crackdown on beheading videos.”

A report first appearing in the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir, and later in Israel’s i24 News and Iran’s Ahlul BaytNews Agency, claims that Islamic State leaders are calling for jihadi commanders to order their underlings to stop uploading beheading videos online “without explicit permission.” Reports from i24 state that it is believed that these leaders are cracking down on the graphic footage because of fear that a deluge of violent social media coverage will damage the jihadist organization’s reputation.

In addition to the ban on beheading videos, i24 reports that top ISIS commanders have begun a purge of jihadist leaders who do not conform completely to the teachings of the Islamic State, even those who may promote beliefs too radical for the rest of the group. One commander allegedly killed for dissidence has been accused of calling al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri an apostate for his refusal to exclude Shia Muslims from the jihadist cause.

Clamping down on criticism of al-Qaeda appears a new line to tow for ISIS jihadists, who once formed the deadly al-Qaeda in Iraq wing of the group…(read more)